-- 26 Dec 1973
Brown had already been released as counselor. With the deaths of Smith and Lee, the First Presidency's most strident voices against Benson's ultra- conservatism were stilled. (2)

-- December 30, 1973
The fourteen members of the Quorum of the Twelve met at 3 PM to determine whether to reorganize the First Presidency immediately, and, if so, who should succeed as president. They decided to act immediately and Ezra Taft Benson moved that the First Presidency be reorganized with Spencer W. Kimball, the apostle senior in service, as president of the Church, prophet, seer, revelator, and trustee-in- trust. (3)

-- January 11, 1974
The Mormon Church said Saturday a letter from Ezra Taft Benson, president of the Council of the Twelve, opposing low-cost housing in Heber City was accidently sent on official church stationary. ... [Benson] said subsidized housing for low income families was socialistic and attracted "undesirable" persons. (7)

-- February 22, 1974
Shortly after Spencer became President, Elder Benson was asked in an interview whether a good Mormon could be a liberal Democrat. He replied, "I think it would be very hard if he was living the gospel and understood it." When the comment appeared in print, along with a statement by Elder Benson that the Church might at some point endorse political candidates, it stirred a buzz of concern and a flood of protests to the Presidency. Spencer waited several days before discussing the matter with Elder Benson, who expressed regret that he had allowed the interview and apologized for the embarrassment his statements had caused the Church. Spencer understood his worthy motives and patriotic spirit, but reminded him that as president of the Council of Twelve he should avoid involvement in politically sensitive and potentially divisive matters. The interview closed on a cordial note, although Spencer observed a bit too sanguinely in his journal, "I doubt if he will get into politics any more." President Benson's biography by Sheri Dew does not mention the incident. (8)

-- 22 Feb 1974
SALT LAKE TRIBUNE article, "Support for Candidate Possible Some Day, LDS Apostle Says," quotes Ezra Taft Benson as saying that a liberal Democrat could not be a good Mormon "if he was living the gospel and understood it."

Benson resumed partisan warfare by announcing that the church might officially support political candidates. Then on the eve of the November election he publicly endorsed the ultra-conservative American Party and spoke at its rally on the Saturday before the election. This required the First Presidency to issue an immediate statement that "we take no partisan stand as to candidates or parties, and any person who makes representations to the contrary does so without authorization." (9)

-- Spring 1974
General Authorities, particularly Elder Benson, sent President Kimball marked copies of publications containing statements by Church members they considered critical or impolitic. For example, Elder Benson forwarded a Dialogue interview with Juanita Brooks about her book on the Mountain Meadows massacre and a BYU Daily Universe article mentioning Dialogue favorably. Spencer chose not to respond to such matters. Many other items forwarded to Spencer W. Kimball were ultraconservative expressions of concern for subversion of democracy in the United States. (10)

-- 11 Apr 1974
L. Tom Perry is ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, replacing Spencer W. Kimball, who had been called to the First Presidency.

-- April 1972
Elder Benson preached 'This most correct book on earth states that the downfall of two great American civilizations came as a result of secret conspiracies whose desire was to overthrow the freedom of the people." "And they have caused the destruction of this people of whom I am now speaking," says Moroni, "and also the destruction of the people of Nephi." (Eth. 8:21.) Now undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors undoubtedly Moroni could have pointed out many factors that led to the destruction of the people, but notice how he singled out the secret combinations, just as the Church today could point out many threats to peace, prosperity, and the spread of God's work, but it has singled out the greatest threat as the great conspiracy. There is no conspiracy theory in the Book of Mormon –it is a conspiracy fact. And along this line I would highly recommend to you the book None Dare Call It Conspiracy by Gary Allen."'

Note: Book recommendation added during talk upon discovering a Russian delegation in attendance. Allen was a member of the Birch Society. (2)

-- 14 Apr 1972
Benson's [conference advice to purchase 'None Dare Call It Conspiracy'] appeared in the report of his conference address by the Mormon-Birch Utah Independent, but the First Presidency deleted that recommendation from the official report of Benson's sermon. (3)

-- May 13,1972
May Presidency letter that "fluoridation of public water supplies to prevent tooth decay" is one of the "non-moral issues" that Mormons should vote on "according to their honest convictions." John Birch Society, which Apostle Ezra Taft Benson and many other Mormons support, is condemning fluoridation as a Communist "plot." (4)

-- 30 Jun 1972
The Mormon-Birch Utah Independent announced Benson's addresses at Boston ... where all the other speakers were either staff members of the Birch Society's American Opinion or long-time authors of its articles. (5)

-- August 1, 1972
Benson promotes Skousen's "The Naked Capitalist," "The Great and Abominable Church of the Devil" by Verlan Anderson and "None Dare Call it Conspiracy." [Ezra Taft Benson to Elder Bremer, August 1, 1972, Council of Twelve letterhead (7)

-- 12 Oct 1972
Bruce R. McConkie ordained. (6)

-- November 14, 1972
Benson notes "There have always been shades-of-gray members, down to the blackest Judas." He also promotes the book "None Dare Call it Conspiracy," and says the book "Prophets Principles and National Survial" shows "where the Prophets stand regarding freedom." (8)

-- 01 May 1973
Elder Ezra Taft Benson, Brigham Young University President Dallin H. Oaks, and newly appointed dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School, Rex E. Lee, participate in the groundbreaking ceremonies for the law school.

-- Between July 1972 and Dec 1973
While Harold B. Lee was in the presidency, he evidently even gave an embarrassing rebuke to Apostle Benson during a meeting of general authorities in the Salt Lake Temple. As reported by Henry D. Taylor, an Assistant to the Twelve, individual apostles were delivering formal presentations on various subjects to the assistants. Benson's assigned topic was the church's youth program, but he began presenting charts and quotes to show Communist influence in America and the need to teach anti- Communism to Mormon youth. Lee walked out while Benson was speaking, soon followed by the other apostles. Taylor and the other Assistants to the Twelve were the only ones who remained seated during Benson's presentation. (9)

-- 9 Apr 1970
The newspaper published by Mormon members of the Birch Society was significant for what lay between the lines of its report of April 1970 conference. The Utah Independent began with the comment that church members will remember this general conference "for decades to come" and noted: "Despite persistent rumors to the contrary, no violence took place at the conference. No opposition was manifest by Church members when the names of general authorities were presented for sustaining." Of Lee's talk two days before this vote, the Utah Independent observed: "Special interest has centered around the talk given by President Harold B. Lee at the Saturday evening general priesthood session," and quoted excerpts. However, this Mormon-Birch newspaper made no reference to the part of Lee's talk which referred to the ultra-conservative proposal to vote against "the First Presidency with its social-democrat thinking," and to substitute Benson as new church president.

Not long afterward, the author of this article lost his job in the LDS Publications Department. His supervisor had told him that it was "inappropriate" for him to be a member of the John Birch Society and an editor of the ultra-conservative Utah Independent. When informed of this incident by the state coordinator of the Birch Society, Apostle Benson said he could do nothing to remedy it. (1)

-- 09 Apr 1970
Boyd K. Packer is ordained a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, replacing John A. Widtsoe, who had passed away.

-- 9 Jul 1970
The Mormon-Birch Utah Independent announced Benson's addresses at Boston ... where all the other speakers were either staff members of the Birch Society's American Opinion or long-time authors of its articles. (2)

-- October 1970
Benson states members should avoid false theories from men like Sigmund Freud, Charles Darwin, John Dewey, Karl Marx, John Keynes, and others. (3)

Skousen ... organized the Freemen Institute which initially attracted Mormon members of the Birch Society. Skousen named the organization after the Book of Mormon's "freemen." (6)

-- 1971, January
New Church magazines, Ensign, New Era, and Friend commenced publication. (5)

-- 13 Apr 1971
BYU's president complained to Benson in April 1971 about not being able to establish "a chapter of the John Birch Society on our campus." (7)

-- 4 May 1971
Wilkinson lamented to Benson that McKay's earlier instructions had blocked any attempts to establish a chapter of the John Birch Society at BYU: "I would personally like to have one at BYU, and I am seeing what I can do, but my lieutenants insist I would be violating the letter that President McKay sent us [during the Midgley/John Birch episode] sometime ago if I did." (8)

-- 26 Aug 1971
During church's first area conference in Manchester, England, there is formal meeting of joint council of First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles. This is first such council meeting outside United States in Mormon history. (9)

As President McKay became increasingly impaired by age, some church functionaries, with allegiances to the radical political right, tried to influence the president in ways that Grandfather [Hugh B. Brown], President [N. Eldon] Tanner, and Elder Harold B. Lee thought unwise and improper. These three men--Grandfather in particular--were often but not always successful in blocking those efforts to influence church policy. (1)

-- 18 Jan 1970
[Quorum of the Twelve] David O. McKay dies. (2)

-- January 1970
Ezra Taft Benson's political activism went into decline in the years following McKay's death in January 1970. His successors as church president were two apostles who had privately and publicly expressed their criticism of Benson. Presidents Joseph Fielding Smith and Harold B. Lee severely restricted Apostle Benson's political activism from 1970 through 1973. (3)

-- 23 Jan 1970
[Quorum of the Twelve] The First Presidency is reorganized, with Joseph Fielding Smith President, Harold B. Lee First Counselor, and N. Eldon Tanner Second Counselor. Harold B. Lee becomes President of the Quorum, with Spencer W. Kimball Acting President of the Quorum. (2)

-- 4 Mar 1970
[Some] ultra- conservative Mormons ... were outraged by the First Presidency's official condemnation of Mormons who had formed "Neighborhood Emergency Teams" in Utah. Apostle Benson announced that he had "no comment" about this March 1970 Presidency statement. (4)

-- 13 Mar 1970
President Hugh B. Brown of the First Presidency and Elders Ezra Taft Benson and Gordon B. Hinckley conduct the dedication of the Mormon Pavilion at the World's Fair in Osaka, Japan. Some 6.65 million people attend the pavilion in the first six months of the fair.

-- 4 Apr 1970
Shortly after the presidency's statement against the ultra- conservative NET organizations, all local LDS leaders received an announcement which began: "There are dangerous sinister trends developing within the church due to the liberal factions gaining control." The announcement urged all "those of the conservative mind" to "cast a dissenting vote against the liberal factions" of "the First Presidency with its social-democrat thinking" on 6 April 1970. This would remove from office the new presidency of Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, and N. Eldon Tanner, all of whom were known as opponents of Benson's ultra-conservative activism. In their place, this proposal claimed that "Brother Benson will sound the trumpet and thousands, yes tens of thousands, will heed his call and stand forth ready to sustain and support the fight for truth, right and liberty." Thus a general conference vote of Mormon ultra-conservatives would propel Benson into the office of LDS church president in place of the current president and ahead of other senior apostles.

Rather than dismissing this document as the work of a lone crank and giving it no further attention, Counselor Harold B. Lee publicly denounced it two days before the sustaining vote of April 1970 conference. He told the general priesthood meeting that "there is one vicious story to the effect that one of our General Authorities is allegedly being urged to present himself to lead the Church contrary to the Lord's revelation and to make people think there is some division among the authorities of the Church." Lee indicated that this petition and its supporting documents "are finding their way into our Relief Society meetings, into priesthood quorums, firesides, institutes, and seminaries." That was an extraordinary acknowledgement by Lee of the threat to the LDS church he perceived from ultra-conservative Mormons. (5)

-- 6 Apr 1970
Rank-and-file Mormons noted that for the first time "in many years," Benson gave "his first non-political sermon" ... They regarded this non-partisan talk as a result of specific instructions the apostle had received from the First Presidency. (6)

"Despite continued threats of demonstrations," Harold B. Lee's biography observes, "not a single hand was raised in opposition" to the First Presidency on 6 April 1970. After the vote, Lee spoke against "the possibility of using political devices or revolutionary methods that could cause much confusion and frustration in the work of the Lord." The official photograph showing the Twelve's vote for the current First Presidency showed only three apostles, and the photograph centered on Ezra Taft Benson. (7)

Endnotes:
1 - Firmage, An Abundant Life: The Memoirs of Hugh B. Brown, 142 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
2 - Wikipedia, Chronology of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_the_Quorum_of_the_Twelve_Apostles_(LDS_Church)3 - However, it did not cease altogether. The Mormon-Birch Utah Independent announced Benson's addresses at Boston rallies in 1970 and 1972, where all the other speakers were either staff members of the Birch Society's American Opinion or long-time authors of its articles. See "Benson, Skousen Speak at New England Rally," Utah Independent, 9 July 1970,1, and "Benson Is Guest of Honor," Utah Independent, 30 June 1972, 8, and compare to table of contents pages of previous issues of American Opinion, also the list of the Birch Society's national council in "The John Birch Society: A Report," Advertising Supplement to Los Angeles Times, 27 Sept. 1964, 7 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
4 - "Shun Vigilante Groups, LDS Urges Members," Salt Lake Tribune, 4 Mar. 1970, B-l -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
5 - "TO ALL STAKE PRESIDENTS INTERESTED IN TRUTH AND LIBERTY THIS CALL IS MADE," photocopy of typed document, undated, in folder 22, box 5, Buerger Papers, with signed copies by J. Wilson Bartlett in MS 2461, LDS archives, and in folder 3, box 124, Hinckley Papers; Lee, "To the Defenders of the Faith," 4 Apr. 1970, Improvement Era 73 (June 1970): 64. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
6 - Buchanan diary, 21 July 1970; Ezra Taft Benson, "A World Message," Improvement Era 73 (June 1970): 95-97, whose only political reference was prophetic: "The time must surely come when the Iron Curtain will be melted down and the Bamboo Curtain shattered." From D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) also in Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
7 - Goates, Harold B. Lee, 414; Lee, "The Day in Which We Live," and photograph of "Council of the Twelve" vote in "The Solemn Assembly," Improvement Era 73 (June 1970): 28,20. These are referenced in in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3

-- February 1969
In February 1969, W. Cleon Skousen instructed his niece to recruit BYU students as spies. As a student herself, she claimed that her uncle "had discovered there was an active communist cell on campus whose goal it was to destroy this university by 1970." She asked one student to infiltrate BYU's Young Democrats on Skousen's behalf. Anti-Birch professor Louis Midgley was also among the BYU faculty who "were `high on the list' of suspects as being communist sympathizers on this campus and her words were that I was to `talk with them and to try to get them to commit themselves.'" Cleon Skousen gave the information "to his `superior' in Salt Lake City." (1)

-- February 12, 1969
[David O. McKay] I asked what conclusion the brethren had reached regarding the matter. President Tanner said the same conclusion that was arrived at about two years ago, that Elder Benson should discontinue this kind of thing [political extremism], and particularly in stake conferences, and should limit himself to talking about the gospel and its applications. President Tanner said that he thought I made as clear a statement on the subject as he had heard made in the meeting of the Council of the First Presidency and the Twelve at that time. I said that there is no reason why we should not continue that understanding. (2)

-- 11 Mar 1969
David Ben-Gurion, Israel's former prime minister, tells Apostle Ezra Taft Benson: "There are no people in the world who understand Jews like Mormons." Benson replies: "Mr. Ben-Gurion, there are no people in this world who understand the WORLD like the Mormons."

-- April 14, 1969
Dedicates Singapore for the preaching of the gospel. (3)

-- 1 May 1969
Apostle Ezra Taft Benson writes to LDS Hotel-magnate J. Willard Marriott, "The kindest thing that could be said about Martin Luther King is that he was an effective Communist tool. Personally, I think he was more than that."

-- 12 May 1969
Regarding an inflammatory speech at BYU by Benson in which he criticized U.S. Government officials and the United Nations, McKay authorized Hugh B. Brown to go to BYU and give a strong rebuttal, stating, "I did not think that any government officials should be accused of these things." (2)

-- 13 May 1969
Ernest Wilkinson: "If President McKay was vigorous enough to do it, I am sure he would call both of them in [Benson & Brown] and talk to them about this, and especially President Brown for his critical personal [a]llusions." (4)

-- 27 May 1969
Skousen's efforts at campus espionage in 1969 collapsed after a faculty member wrote a memo urging him "to give the lie to this rumor . . . that you have organized a `spy' ring to check on the alleged pro-Communist sympathies of professors."

Only one of these agent provocateurs, a political science major, confessed the espionage. This student stopped spying because he found no Communist sympathizers at BYU, and "I decided that I was involved in a questionable activity and that I should withdraw and cease to function as an agent in any way." (5)

-- 29 May 1969
[David O. McKay] N. Eldon Tanner inquired in May 1969 "if a man were an avowed communist, would our position be to excommunicate him or disqualify him for any position in the Church," McKay responded that he should not hold any church position, but allowed that he might remain a member of the church." (2)

-- October 26, 1969
Dedicates Indonesia for the preaching of the gospel. (3)

-- Dec 1969
Benson's October 1969 sermon warned the LDS general conference against "Communist conspiracy, fellow travelers, and dupes." Those remarks appeared in the official report of the conference. (6)

-- During 1969
President Hugh B. Brown proposes that the Church-s policy be reversed and that Blacks be given the Priesthood. This policy was approved by the Quorum of Twelve and the First Presidency with President McKay and Harold B. Lee absent. (President McKay was disabled due to age and President Lee was traveling on Church business.) When President Lee returned, he called for another vote and the measure was defeated this time. President Brown wrote about the issue: - "A serious problem that has confronted us, especially during the past few decades has been our denying the priesthood to the Negro. Personally, I doubt if we can maintain or sustain ourselves in the position we have adopted but which has no justification in the scriptures, as far as I know. The president says it can only come by revelation. If that is true, then change will come in due course. It seems to me that if we had admitted the Negro to the church as a full member, at the time of Joseph Smith, we would have had more trouble with the government than we then had. Holding ourselves aloof from that until after the Civil war gave us the opportunity to establish the church without that question coming to the front. It was, in other words, a policy, not necessarily a doctrine" (7)

-- June 24, 1968
[Ezra Taft Benson letter] ... "You will be interested to know that President McKay encouraged my son, Reed, to stay with the John Birch Society indicating it would be vindicated and become a powerful organization in the preservation of our freedom. ... (1)

-- 18 Oct 1968
After Benson described U.S. government "welfare-state programs" as a "Communist-planned program of deception" in his October 1968 conference talk, the Mormon director of a government welfare program complained to the First Presidency. Brown replied: "Others of us feel much the same as you do but the President has not seen fit to check or refute the statements by the person involved and our hands are therefore tied. Be assured, however, of this, that what this man said does not represent the position of the Church with respect to the subject of government aid, etc."

Counselor Brown concluded that Apostle Benson's "statements do not represent the position of the Church, but I am handicapped in that I cannot refute them because the President feels that each one should be free to express his own opinions. This seems to be unfortunate because, speaking from that pulpit and as one of the general authorities, each of us is supposed to represent the Church. There will be a change in this whole situation, we hope, before too long." (2)

-- October 24, 1968
[Minutes, First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve] Reference was made to questions that have been raised by presidents of stakes and mission presidents in Germany, the British Isles, etc., and also by the [Improvement] Era, regarding talks that have been given in conference by the brethren of the Authorities such as the one given by Brother Benson at the recent General Conference regarding the responsibilities we have to oppose socialism, etc. ... He explains that over half of the members of his stake in England vote socialist and that members of the stake presidency, high council and bishoprics support that cause, that there is therefore some confusion in regard to how they should accept these statements.

... President Tanner mentioned that during the past three years we have had questions and complaints about talks given in General Conference that seem to be offensive to the German people or the British people, or whoever it may be, by just building up the United States of America and referring to things that are going on here…. Elder [Harold B.] Lee mentioned that the overall problem we have constantly had in mind is to make our hearers conscious of the fact that we are a universal church, and that those things that go into our lessons must be applicable to the world; that when we set forth gospel principles this is very simple, but when we begin to relate it to governmental programs of this country and other countries we become involved in controversy…. Elder [Spencer W.] Kimball felt that in the General Authorities meeting, which is held in the temple two weeks before conference, the brethren might be reminded that their talks should be geared to the world. President Tanner said that he did not know that we could do any more this morning, but we should have in mind that it is a world church, and that when speaking in General Conference he thought we should be careful to tell people what we are trying to tell them regarding the gospel in a way that will not be offensive to other parts of the world. (3)

-- 24 Oct 1968
Apostle Ezra Taft Benson replies to a letter asking child rearing advice: "I wish my good wife, who has had major responsibility for the training of our children, could talk to you personally. You see, I have been away from home approximately half of our married life, occasioned by my Church service and employment." (4)

-- circa December 1968
[Hugh B. Brown] "There are some [General Authorities]—I won't put it in the plural even—who sustain the John Birch Society. Others of us do not. I don't think that that should be an issue, should not be a question involving one's standing in the Church whether they approve of that or not. I do think that in this case all members of the General Authorities should keep out of that discussion. I think the John Birch Society will run its course and finally be rejected. That's my own opinion." (5)

-- December 7, 1968
[Phone call, Benson to Clare Middlemiss] "Clare, President McKay has told me on various occasions that there are two things he regretted in his presidency: (1) the untimely decision, which was later changed, to move the college at Rexburg to Idaho Falls; and (2) the issuing of the statement in the public press against the John Birch Society. Now, in order to alleviate that feeling about the John Birch Society, I wonder, since they are celebrating their 10th Anniversary tonight at a meeting and banquet in Indianapolis, Indiana, if President McKay would send a telegram similar to the following: "John Birch Society, c/o Mr. Robert Welch, Stauffer Inn, Indianapolis, Indiana—Congratulations upon reaching ten years of courageous and effective service in defense of our freedom and acquainting the American people with the insidious dangers of the atheistic communistic conspiracy. Best wishes for future success in the fight to preserve our God-given liberties." McKay was in a meeting, and counselor Alvin R. Dyer vetoed the request. (6)

-- During 1968
Conservative third parties have enjoyed some success in Utah in the post-World War II period. In 1968 the American party was organized nationally to support the presidential candidacy of George Wallace. The former Alabama governor, whose request to have Apostle Ezra Taft Benson as his running mate was refused by LDS Church leaders, polled 26,980 votes in Utah. The American party remained a minor but vocal presence in the state's politics for another decade, frequently fielding candidates for congressional, state, and local offices. The party was sufficiently strong enough in Utah to attract the location of the national office for a time, but eventually was thwarted by the growing conservatism of Utah's Republican party. (7)

Endnotes:
1 - Ezra Taft Benson to Mr. & Mrs. Gene Curtis, June 24, 1968 (provided by Joe Geisner)
2 - Brown to Philip D. Thorpe, director of the Community Action Program in Provo, Utah, 18 Oct. 1968, carbon copy in Campbell papers, with attached copy of Benson's October 1968 conference address, "The Proper Role of Government," Improvement Era 71 (Dec. 1968): 51-53, with underlined passage on page 53 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
3 - Summarized in David O. McKay Papers; verbatim report in Clare Middlemiss, Minutes of a Meeting of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, "Notes" as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)
4 - On This Day in Mormon History, http://onthisdayinmormonhistory.blogspot.com5 - Hugh B. Brown interview as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)
6 - "Note by C.M. (Clare Middlemiss)", David O. McKay diary as referenced in Gregory A. Prince and Wm. Robert Write, David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press (2005)
7 - Utah History Encyclopedia: Third Parties in Utah, http://www.uen.org/utah_history_encyclopedia/8 - Wikipedia: "Ezra Taft Benson"

-- February 15, 1968
Not until President McKay specifically instructed him to do so in February 1968 did Benson report to the Twelve about the behind-the-scenes efforts on behalf of his presidential candidacy. This was more than two years after he began exploring this possibility with McKay and with the national leaders of the Birch Society who headed "The 1976 Committee."

... He attended their weekly meetings without once mentioning the efforts being made to propel him out of quorum activity and into the White House. What the apostles learned about Benson's candidacy, they read in the newspapers. When he finally informed a quorum meeting of those efforts in February 1968, Benson made it clear he did so only upon McKay's insistence. That was the day after the church president had privately ended Benson's political hopes by confidentially reaffirming to George Wallace that the apostle was unavailable as his vice-presidential candidate. (1)

-- April 1968
"Our priceless heritage is threatened today as never before in our lifetime: from without by the forces of Godless Communism, and at home by our complacency and by the insidious forces of the Socialist-Communist conspiracy, with the help of those who would abandon the ancient landmarks set by our fathers and take us down the road to destruction. It was Alexander Hamilton who warned that 'nothing is more common than for a free people, in times of heat and violence, to gratify momentary passions, by letting into the government, principles and precedents which afterwards prove fatal to themselves.' (Alexander Hamilton and the Founding of the Nation, p. 462.)" (2)

-- 7 Apr 1968
[A] white man assassinated America's most famous black civil rights leader, the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. In response to U.S. president Lyndon Johnson's designation of 7 April as a national day of mourning for Reverend King, Apostle Benson immediately prepared a statement for distribution which complained that "the Communists will use Mr. King's death for as much yardage as possible." Benson's hand-out continued that "Martin Luther King had been affiliated with at least the following officially recognized Communist fronts," and listed three organizations. Benson was simply repeating the Birch view of King.

Asked about this hand- out, Counselor Brown replied that Benson's "views do not coincide with the opinion of the majority of the General Authorities and we regret that they are sent out." The first counselor added: "However in President McKay's state of health we cannot get a retraction and must, I suppose, await a change in leadership before definite instructions can be given regulating such items of interest." (3)

-- 12 Apr 1968
Apostle Benson ... tried to make Cleon Skousen dean of the College of Social Sciences. (4)

-- 1 May 1968
[I]n his talk to BYU's devotional in May 1968 Benson accused the U.S. Supreme Court of treason. He added that "a prerequisite for appointment to high government office today is one's past affiliations with communist fronts or one's ability to follow the communist line." Benson's address to BYU students also quoted three times from the Birch Society's official magazine, including references to "black Marxists" and "the Communists and their Black Power fanatics."

In response, the father of one BYU student complained to the First Presidency that Benson had turned BYU's devotionals "into a sounding board for vicious, political interests."

First counselor Brown [wrote regarding Benson's 1 May BYU Devotional talk] "We have had many such letters protesting the speech made at the B.Y.U. recently and we are trying to offset and curtail such expressions." (5)

-- 11 May 1968
[Hugh B.] Brown ... delivered a BYU commencement address which was a direct attack on Benson's sermon there only ten days earlier. "Beware of those who feel obliged to prove their own patriotism by calling into question the loyalty of others," Brown began. Brown clearly indicated that he did not think Benson had "maturity of mind and emotion and a depth of spirit . . . to differ with others on matters of politics without calling into question the integrity of those with whom you differ". As clear response to Benson's quotes to BYU students about African- Americans from the Birch Society magazine, Brown concluded: "At a time when radicals of right or left would inflame race against race, avoid those who preach evil doctrines of racism." (6)

-- 15 Jun 1968
Benson gains national respect as an "elder statesman." One of his 1968 talks on government was published by the influential periodical Vital Speeches of the Day. It was republished in an academic journal. (8)

-- 11 May 1967
Counselor Brown informed a church member in May 1967 that "numerous others" had complained about Benson's continued association with [Billy James] Hargis and the apostle's implied endorsement of his segregationist views. The First Presidency "are taking it to the Twelve as soon as Brother Benson returns from Europe as we prefer to have him present when the matter is discussed." Brown gave the reassurance that Benson's "activities in this connection will be curtained [curtailed]." (1)

[Hugh B. Brown] "We did discuss your letter and numerous others like it on the same subject with the First Presidency and are taking it to the Twelve as soon as Brother Benson returns [from an assignment out of town] … and we prefer to have him present when the matter is discussed. I think you can be assured that something definite will be decided upon and activities in this connection will be curtailed." (2)

-- Sept 22, 1967
David O. McKay: after being asked by Benson for McKay's permission to address the subject of civil rights and communism, McKay recorded: "He briefly talked about the plight of the Negroes in this Civil Rights Issue, and how the Communists are using the Negroes to further their own schemes to foment trouble in the United States. He said that he would talk on this subject from the viewpoint of bringing peace in our country instead of uprisings of the Negroes in riots, etc. I told Brother Benson that under these circumstances, he may go ahead with his subject." (3)

-- 29 Sep 1967
The new administrative position of regional representative of the Twelve was announced, and the first 69 regional representatives were called and given their initial training. (4)

-- 29 Sep 1967
At a meeting in the Salt Lake Tabernacle in September 1967 [Benson] said that "the so-called civil rights movement as it exists today is a Communist program for revolution in America." He repeated that assessment in his general conference talk the next month. (6)

-- 05 Oct 1967
Alvin R. Dyer is ordained an Apostle but is not placed in the Quorum of the Twelve. He acts as an additional Counselor in the First Presidency.

-- 1 Nov 1967
Benson's supporters began circulating petitions to place his name on the ballot for the upcoming national election. (7)

-- 1968
A survey of more than 700 Mormons showed that 58 percent regarded the Birch Society as "not supporting Declaration of Independence principles. (8)

-- 8 Feb 1968
Lacking sufficient support from the Republican leadership, Benson had negotiated to become the vice-presidential candidate in George C. Wallace's third-party challenge. Wallace formally announced his third party candidacy on 8 February, but as early as November a vice- president of the John Birch Society's "publishing and distribution arm" had resigned that position "to actively campaign for George Wallace." The Christian Science Monitor reported that Apostle Benson also supported Wallace. (9)

-- George C. Wallace to David O. McKay, 12 Feb. 1968, and David O. McKay to George C. Wallace, 14 Feb. 1968 -- as referenced in D. Michael Quinn, "Ezra Taft Benson and Mormon Political Conflicts", Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought 26:2 (Summer 1992) and Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power Salt Lake City (Signature Books, 1994), Chapter 3
George Wallace formally writes LDS President David O. McKay for his "permission and blessings" and "a leave of absence" for Apostle Ezra Taft Benson to be Wallace's vice-presidential candidate. Benson had negotiated with Wallace to be his running mate on Wallace's third-party ticket. Two days later McKay sends a "confidential" letter to Wallace denying Benson's request and pointedly tells Wallace that "you no doubt have received word from Ezra Taft Benson as to my decision . . ." (10)

-- February 13, 1968
McKay to George Wallace: "Please be assured that my decision is not political in essence, but one that involves Mr. Benson's calling as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church." (3)

-- 13 Mar. 1967
Stephen Hays Russell, the student-leader of [the BYU spy-ring], signed a 1967 statement which made no reference whatever to the John Birch Society or to Ezra Taft Benson, even though the Birch connection appears in other sources.

Russell's 1967 statement acknowledged on page 3 that "if I 'got caught' at this, official university reactions would be that I was acting on my own," and on page 9 that Ernest Wilkinson expected Russell to be the "scapegoat". Although he implicated Wilkinson and two of Wilkinson's assistants already named by fellow-spy Hankin, all of Russell's other statements about BYU espionage were obviously intended to shield others beyond the BYU administrators who were involved. (1)

-- March 24, 1967
[Letter to Hugh B. Brown] "I personally feel that Brother Benson is misusing his Priesthood Authority…. I am finding it increasingly difficult to raise my right hand in Quarterly Conference and sustain Brother Benson as an Apostle. Isn't there something that can be done to curb this type of political involvement of the Church in general?" (3)

-- Apr 1967
Benson ... approved the use of a recent talk as the "forward" to an overtly racist book which featured the decapitated head of an African-American on its cover. The authors of The Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives, Foreward by The Honorable Ezra Taft Benson wrote that the apostle "has generously offered this address as the basis for the introductory remarks to `The Black Hammer'."

Benson had given this talk to the anti-Communist leadership school of segregationist Hargis who had published it in his magazine.

Although they did not identify themselves as Mormons, The Black Hammer's authors (who lived in the San Francisco Bay area) referred on the dedication page to "all the Elders of the California North Mission for their interest and prayers." Their bibliography listed seven anti-Communist books including ones by Benson and W. Cleon Skousen. Two of Black Hammer's pro-Communist sources were cited as reprints by the John Birch Society's American Opinion, and page 78 encouraged readers to "pass on your current copy" of that Birch magazine. Page 91 also encouraged "every Negro" to study the "conservative philosophy" of Robert Welch.

Consistent with Benson's own statements, The Black Hammer (which he now tacitly endorsed) dismissed as Communist-directed all organized efforts for civil rights. On pages 32 and 35, the book warned about "the violent revolt which is part of the 100 year-old Communist program for the enslavement of America," and about the "well-defined plans for the establishment of a Negro Soviet dictatorship in the South." On page 51, The Black Hammer said: "The media would have the American public believe that the Black Power movement, with all its `militant overtones' (as the media so affectionately describes it) is frowned upon by the `moderate civil rights leadership'--more specifically, Martin Luther King. This is pure hogwash." Page 83 referred to "the Negro's need for complete subservience to the Great White Fathers in Washington." However, the authors insisted on page 90 that they were "ready and willing to take any Negro by the hand and help him into an era of self-proprietorship that every deserving American can achieve."

It does not seem coincidental that Benson endorsed this book in the midst of the Birch Society's effort to put him on the 1968 presidential ticket. He may have endorsed The Black Hammer: A Study of Black Power, Red Influence and White Alternatives to provide leverage with another presidential aspirant, George C. Wallace, the segregationist governor of Alabama. (4)

-- 15 Apr 1967
Apostle Mark E. Petersen wrote an editorial in the Church News: "Political extremists sow seeds of hate and discord. Extremism among them can hardly be less dangerous on one hand than on the other. Both can lead to dictatorship." (6)

-- April 18, 1967
After Robert Welch (founder of the John Birch Society) wrote McKay again encouraging him to allow Benson to serve on the National Council of the John Birch Society, McKay "explained to him, as I have on two other occasions by letter, that it would not be wise for Elder Benson to serve in this capacity." (7)

-- April 21, 1967
McKay showed Birch Society founder Robert Welch's letter to Mark E. Petersen, who upon reading it said: "President McKay, Elder Harold B. Lee has some hair-raising stories to tell about the Birch Society which I am sure he will tell you, which I think would scare you to death. We have the Church, and if we live up to its teachings, we do not need to worry about what will happen to this country!" (7)

-- 31 Oct 1966
[T]he First Presidency counselors and Twelve's president regarded Benson's October 1966 conference talk as a criticism of every general authority except David O. McKay. "From this talk," Counselor N. Eldon Tanner noted, "one would conclude that Brother Benson and President McKay stand alone among the General Authorities on the question of freedom." (1)

-- 9 Nov 1966
[Regarding Benson's October conference talk,] the Twelve's president Joseph Fielding Smith "agreed heartily with Tanner's objections to the talk in general." Counselor Brown added that Benson's October 1966 conference "talk is wholly objectionable because it does impugn the rest of us and our motives when we have advised the people to live their religion and stay away from extremist ideas and philosophies." Benson had asked for approval to "mimeograph his talk for wider distribution" which the First Presidency disapproved. Still, the presidency ultimately allowed the official report of conference to print Apostle Benson's talk virtually unchanged. (2)

-- November 9, 1966
McKay agreed that Benson's conference talk went too far and "decided that the talk should not be mimeographed and distributed in pamphlet form." Two weeks later, however, Benson met privately with McKay and asked him to reconsider his decision. After rereading Benson's talk, McKay made the opposite decision: "There is nothing wrong with the talk, so I told my secretary to tell Elder Benson he could have it mimeographed if he wished." (3)

-- November 10, 1966
Rededicates Italy for the preaching of the gospel. (4)

-- 11 Nov 1966
After discovering the details of [the] "Spy Ring" from its participants and from meetings with Counselor N. Eldon Tanner and Apostle Harold B. Lee, one of BYU's vice-presidents confided that "the real home of the group was ETB."

Due to their belief that Apostle Benson was involved in [the] BYU "spy ring," general authorities like N. Eldon Tanner and Harold B. Lee declined to pursue the matter rigorously. They rejected demands for Ernest Wilkinson's resignation and merely asked BYU's president to apologize privately to the professors targeted for this espionage.

-- February 24, 1967
McKay received a twelve-page letter from Robert Welch, "a cursory glance of which indicates or pleads for permission for Ezra Taft Benson to serve on the National Council of the [John Birch] Society." In his conclusion, Welch indicated that Benson had already agreed to serve on the council, subject only to McKay's consent.

"It was agreed that Elder Benson would answer Mr. Welch and tell him that it would be impossible for him to serve on the Council at this time." (7)

-- 3 Mar 1967
Covert surveillance by BYU-Birch student in the form of either correspondence, classroom questioning, or private meetings to extract "pro-Communist" views from their professors - reported in Miami Herald, "Birchers Spied on Professors, Hialeah Student Says." (9)

-- 12 Mar 1967
Benson told newspapers in March 1967 that he regarded the draft movement [to elect him president] as "almost frightening, yet humbling." He also told reporters in March 1967, "I have no desire to run for political office." (10)

-- 30 Sep 1966
By the end of September 1966 the BYU "spy ring" had unraveled as its principal members confessed their participation to BYU faculty, administrators, bishops, and general authorities. (3)

-- 2 Oct 1966
Ezra Taft Benson used October 1966 general conference to begin an extraordinary response to his hierarchy critics at the previous conference. "There are some who apparently feel that the fight for freedom is separate from the Gospel. They express it in several ways, but it generally boils down to this: Just live the gospel; there's no need to get involved in trying to save freedom and the Constitution or stop communism." Then in an obvious reference to himself and other general authorities, Benson said: "Should we counsel people, `Just live your religion--there's no need to get involved in the fight for freedom?' No we should not, because our stand for freedom is a most basic part of our religion . . . " He added: "We will be given a chance to choose between conflicting counsel given by some," and he observed: "All men are entitled to inspiration, but only one man is the Lord's mouthpiece. Some lesser men have in the past, and will in the future, use their offices unrighteously. Some will, ignorantly or otherwise, use it to promote false counsel; some will use it to lead the unwary astray; some will use it to persuade us that all is well in Zion; some will use it to cover and excuse their ignorance." (4)

-- 7 Oct 1966
"When Pres. McKay dies Ezra Taft won't last a year," a bishop from Logan, Utah said. "Pres. Smith or Elder Lee will not hesitate to put him in his place if he continues his political preaching." "If this happens," the bishop predicted, "it may turn out that Benson will refuse to give up his Americanism campaign and will be dropped or resign from the Quorum." (6)

-- October 16, 1966
[Drew Pearson, syndicated columnist] Pearson complains that Benson "wrote a letter to state-run Weber State College, protesting the appearance of Art Buckwald, the humorist, on the college lecture course" who called Buckwald's views "dangerous." Benson is "inclined to link Communism with anything controversial." (7)

[Drew Pearson, Washington Post] "David O. McKay, president of the Church and now 93 years old, once championed the principle of free discussion, of letting Mormons have and listen to sharply divergent views. He still stands by that principle in theory. But the Deseret News, the Church-owned newspaper which circulates throughout Utah, shies away from publishing views not approved by the Church elders. Chief reason for the new Mormon trend toward political and philosophical isolation is probably the influx of outsiders into Utah, plus the steady drumbeat of John Birch Propaganda from Ezra Taft Benson." (8)

-- 25 Oct 1966
Because BYU devotional talks were separately broadcast and published, he decided to repeat his conference talk and expand upon its criticisms of the unnamed members of the LDS hierarchy.

At BYU Benson made it plain that the context for his remarks was the anti-Birch statements of anyone besides David O. McKay. "Do we preach what governments should or should not do as a part of the Gospel plan, as President McKay has urged? Or do we refuse to follow the Prophet by preaching a limited gospel plan of salvation?" Alluding to the disunity in the hierarchy, Benson affirmed: "We cannot compromise good and evil in an attempt to have peace and unity in the Church any more than the Lord could have compromised with Satan in order to avoid the War in Heaven." He then quoted the church president's April conference statement in favor of anti-Communist organizations, and observed: "Yet witness the sorry spectacle of those presently of our number who have repudiated the inspired counsel of our Prophet . . . It is too much to suppose that all the Priesthood at this juncture will unite behind the Prophet in the fight for freedom." Rather than ascribing this disunity about his anti-Communist crusade to honest differences of opinion, Benson described his church opponents as inspired by Satan:

Now, Satan is anxious to neutralize the inspired counsel of the Prophet, and hence, keep the Priesthood off-balance, ineffective, and inert in the fight for freedom. He does this through diverse means, including the use of perverse reasoning. For example, he [Satan] will argue: There is no need to get involved in the fight for freedom. All you need to do is live the Gospel. . . . It is obvious what Satan is trying to do, but it is sad to see many of us fall for his destructive line.

His next remarks tightened his reference more clearly to the church's presiding quorums. "As the Church gets larger, some men have increasing responsibility, and more and more duties must be delegated. . . . Unfortunately some men who do not honor their stewardships may have an adverse effect on many people. Often the greater the man's responsibility, the more good or evil he can accomplish. The Lord usually gives the man a long enough rope . . . There are some regrettable things being said and done by some people in the Church today."

After quoting to his BYU audience the warning by J. Reuben Clark about "ravening wolves" who "wear the habiliments of the priesthood," Apostle Benson made it clear he was referring to his fellow apostles: "Sometimes from behind the pulpit, in our classrooms, in our Council meetings, and in our Church publications we hear, read or witness things that do not square with the truth. This is especially true where freedom is involved." He concluded: "Some lesser men in the past, and will in the future, use their offices unrighteously. Some will lead the unwary astray . . ."

At the conclusion of his talk Benson let the BYU students know he was referring to general authorities immediately below the church president in authority. "Learn to keep your eye on the Prophet," Benson said, "Let his inspired words be a basis for evaluating the counsel of all lesser authorities." He concluded this remarkable assault on his fellow members of the hierarchy with the only understatement of his BYU talk: "I know I will be abused by some for what I have said." Even the censored publication of this BYU talk retained many of Benson's critical allusions to presidency counselors and apostles.

However, this BYU address in October 1966 was not simply Apostle Benson's public response to Harold B. Lee's sermon "from behind the pulpit" of April 1966 conference. This was also Benson's answer to Mark E. Petersen's anti-Birch editorials "in our Church publications." It was a warning about first counselor Hugh B. Brown ("the greater the man's responsibility, the more good or evil he can accomplish"). In sum, this BYU address was Ezra Taft Benson's dismissal of the anti-Birch statements of any general authority "in our Council meetings" and against "the counsel of all lesser authorities" beneath President McKay. His counter-assault on his unnamed critics in the LDS hierarchy was even more extraordinary than Harold B. Lee's conference talk against the unnamed Apostle Benson. Benson's BYU devotional talk in October 1966 was the clearest evidence that he saw himself and President McKay as fighting alone in a battle for freedom and anti-Communism against all the other general authorities who had fallen for Satan's "perverse reasoning" and "destructive line."

Benson apparently never actually asked McKay for permission to advocate the Birch Society but merely for permission to speak about "freedom." In Benson's thinking there was no distinction among the principles of freedom, the mission of the church, and the teachings of the Birch Society. He sincerely felt he had "a mandate from the prophet" for all of his political speeches. (9)

-- May 3, 1966
... a founding member of the John Birch Society, has called for the conservatives to unite behind Ezra Taft Benson as their candidate for president in 1968... the matter had been discussed with Benson and Sen. J. Strom Thurmond, D - S.C., whom the new committee wants to run for Vice President. ... (1)

-- 3 May 1966
With Benson's permission, three weeks after the April 1966 general conference a national committee announced that it was preparing a campaign to elect him U.S. president in 1968. As part of its ten-year plan, this "1976 Committee" nominated Strom Thurmond, conservative U.S. senator from South Carolina, as Benson's vice-presidential running mate.

A former state coordinator wrote that Birch president Robert Welch "was the guiding light behind" this 1976 Committee [to elect Benson president].

National leaders of the Birch Society comprised 59 percent of this committee, including its chair and two vice-chairs. Most other committee members were probably lower-ranking Birchers.

Benson's 1976 Committee was a classic demonstration of Welch's philosophy of creating "fronts"--organizations that merely had the appearance of independence from the Birch Society which formed and directed them.

In effect, the Birch Society was nominating Benson for the White House. (2)

-- May 3, 1966
[Deseret News] Benson told a reporter that he was in "shock" over the committee's proposal. "It's the first I've heard of it," he said. The same newspaper report indicated that "about half of the committee's 30 organizers are members of the Birch Society." (3)

-- 15 May 1966
[T]he nationally distributed Parade Sunday supplement observed: "Ezra Taft Benson has consistently supported the John Birch Society's recruiting drives among Mormons." Without exaggeration, Parade also informed its millions of readers that Benson's political activism "has introduced as a result a divisive element in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." (4)

-- 25 May 1966
Robert H. Hinckley, former assistant secretary of the U.S. commerce department, chair of the Civil Aeronautics Administration, and vice-president of the American Broadcasting Company, criticized the Birch Society in an address to students of the University of Utah. He lambasted the society's "collective slander, which now seems to have become standard operating procedure for some Birchites," and also "the semi-secret chapters that parallel Communist cells, the use of front groups, the tactics of infiltration, [and] the use of the big lie." Hinckley also identified Ezra Taft Benson as part of the "leadership of the Right Wing" in America. The full text of this assessment appeared in the Congressional Record in June 1966. (5)

-- 27 May 1966
Benson to Robert H. Hinckley, 27 May 1966: "I cannot believe that a man with your background and experience would make the errors attributed to you in the attached item from the Deseret News of May 25th" (6)

-- 9 Aug 1966
In August 1966, Hugh B. Brown told two BYU professors that Benson had "a letter from President McKay endorsing his candidacy." Brown said "it would rip the Church apart" if Benson released the letter to the public as part of the presidential campaign.

Of this, Benson's biographer tells the following. As early as October 1965 Benson had asked the church president for permission to campaign as U.S. presidential candidate. McKay told him not to campaign actively but did not require him to decline the efforts of others to draft him as a presidential candidate. Benson decided to withhold knowledge of any of these discussions from his own quorum which learned of his possible presidential candidacy from the newspaper announcement in May 1966. (8)

-- Mar-Sept 1966
Benson endorsed the Birch Society during his talks at stake conferences and preached Birch themes in general conference sermons. In fact, Benson's official biographer calculated that during the decade of the 1960s "fifteen of his twenty general conference addresses [or 75 percent] focused on one or more of these [political] topics." (9)

-- 16 Apr 1966
President McKay's address at conference left church members "free to participate in non-Church meetings which are held to warn people of the threat of Communism." The Birch Society's Bulletin later published this statement. (1)

-- 19 April 1966
BYU's Ernest Wilkinson asked his administrative assistant to organize a group of "conservative" students to "monitor" professors who were regarded as Communist sympathizers. Nearly all of these BYU professors had publicly condemned the John Birch Society. ... For a year Stephen Hays Stephen Hays Russell, student-leader of this "spy ring," had already been reporting to the local Birch Society chapter and to Wilkinson about some of these professors. (2)

-- 20 April 1966
The student-organizer of [the BYU] 1966 surveillance emphasized his association with Ezra Taft Benson. "On one occasion, the head of the John Birch Society in Utah County took me to the Church Office Building at Salt Lake City to meet Apostle Ezra Taft Benson," Stephen Hays Russell later wrote. "I was introduced to Brother Benson as a `key conservative student at Brigham Young University.'" (3)

Stephen Hays Russell organized a dozen other Birch students in a room of BYU's Wilkinson Center. A non-student chapter leader of the Birch Society acted as guard for this organizing meeting of the BYU spy ring, the only time all would be together at once.

These student-spies included the president of BYU's Young Americans For Freedom, three other members of YAF, and also Cleon Skousen's nephew. Academically, their majors included economics, political science, history, Asian studies, math, and zoology. Stephen Hays Russell acknowledged choosing ten students to assist in the "monitoring," yet his reservation for the room was for twenty persons and chairs. Fellow-spy Ronald Ira Hankin consistently claimed that Russell selected fifteen to twenty students to monitor the BYU professors. However, less than fifteen student-spies have been identified. What linked all these student-spies was their participation in the Provo chapter of the John Birch Society. (4)

-- 25 Apr 1966
A "standing-room-only audience" listened as David O. McKay's nephew referred to the recent Robert Welch (founder of the John Birch Society) banquet as a "gathering of the clan," and referred to the "Dear Brethren" letter promoting it as "a deceitful device." Alluding to the controversies of the previous month, Quinn McKay observed: "What do we do when General Authorities do not see eye to eye on political issues? Which do we follow? If each of the General Authorities were to speak on `The Contributions of the John Birch Society' you would no doubt hear some rather contrasting views. Then which apostle would one quote?" McKay's nephew then referred to the Reed Benson letter which had ignited the race hysteria preceding the October 1965 conference. (5)

-- 29 April 1966
The diary of BYU's president acknowledged his receiving the first "voluntary report from certain students" about "certain liberals on the campus." This verifies the statement of Ronald Ira Hankin and David M. Sisson on 17 Sept. 1966, "During the last week of April we visited Stephen Hays Russell in his dorm in Deseret Towers During our visit Stephen told us he would be visiting President Wilkinson soon. . . . Later the same evening Stephen told me, Ron Hankin, that he was going to turn the report over to the President within the next three or four days." (6)

-- After Apr 1966
[S]ome Mormon Birchers felt that the negative publicity of April 1966 conference required a rapid response. Members of the society in Seattle released a statement which addressed such questions as "Is the Church opposed to the John Birch Society", "Has Brother Benson been rebuked by the Church?", "Is Brother Benson out-of-line in discussing communism in Church talks?", and "Has Reed Benson been rebuked by the Church?" To each of these questions, Seattle Birchers responded in the negative. (7)

-- May 1966
[Cleon Skousen] was an official speaker for the Birch Society in 1966, even though he was not formally a member of the organization. (8)